New Cox & King Luxury Train by 2010

Travel and hospitality company Cox & King (India) Ltd is all set to roll out its luxury train christened as Maharajas Express in January 2010. The 23-coach train is a 50:50 joint venture between Cox & King and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC).

“The coaches of this 45-crore luxury train is being manufactured at Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. Interiors are being done by renowned designers from India and abroad. The combined strength of IRCTC in rail based tourism and hospitality and ours in high-end international tourism would make this a state-of-the-art luxury train. While, IRCTC will be involved in the operations, we will leverage our offices to market the product globally,” Cox and Kings CFO Anil Khandelwal, said.

The luxury train has a passenger capacity of 84. It is the first luxury train that boasts of four distinct configurations. It has five deluxe carriages, each with four cabins; six deluxe cabin carriages, each with three cabins; two suite carriages each with two suites and finally one presidential suite exclusively in one carriage.

“It would have 16 scheduled journeys every year traversing through Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi in the first leg and then Agra, Khajuraho, Bandhavgarh, Varanasi, Gaya and Kolkata in the second leg,” he said.